Fender with cushion board

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a fender having an impactbearing surface directly or indirectly fitted with a cushion board composed of a top layer of a high softening point material or a low frictional coefficient material and a relatively hard or hard foamed layer located beneath said top layer. The cushion board according to this invention is intended for protection of the side of a ship which comes into contact with the fender and of the impact-bearing part of a fender to which this board is attached.

United States Patent Takada [451 Aug. 1, 1972 [54] FENDER WITH CUSHIONBOARD 3,179,397 4/1965 Cleereman et a1 ..267/140 Inventor: s d h Tak a,Odawara Mlllel' Japan Primary Examiner-James B. Marbert [73] Assignee:Seibu Gomu Kagaku Kabushiki Att0mey-Linton & Linton Kaisha, Tokyo, Japan22 Filed: July 22,1970 [57] ABSTRACT The present invention relates to afender having an [21] 57l92 impact-bearing surface directly orindirectly fitted with a cushion board composed of a top layer of a 52U.S. c1 ..267/140 highsoftening Poimmaterial Oralow frictionalcoeffi-51] Int. Cl. ..Fl6f 1 37 Ciel material and a relatively hard or hardfoamed [58] Field of Search ..267/139 140 layer mated beneath Said t0PThe Cushion board according to this invention is intended for pro- 56 ftection of the side of a ship which comes into contact 1 Re erencesCited with the fender and of the impact-bearing part of a UNITED STATESPATENTS v fender to which this board is attached. 3,418,815 12/1968Kumazawamn ..267/140 1 Claim, 6 Drawing Figures FENDER WITH CUSHIONBOARD DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION The present invention is concerned with afender equipped with a cushion board on its impact-bearing surface.

An object of thisinvention is to provide a fender"- with animpact-bearing surface which would normally come in contact with theside of a ship when in use,

with a protective top layer made of a material with a high softeningpoint or a small frictional coefficient and fender has itsimpact-be'aring surface fitted with a wooden piece, for example, US.Pat. No. 3,507,123, but due to its liability to cracking and waterabsorption, wood is not a recommended material for this purpose.

Referring now to the accompanying drawing; F IG. 1 is a top view of theimpact surface of a fender with a cushion. board in one embodiment ofthis invenv 7 tion.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3- is. a perspective view of another embodiment of this invention.I

FIGS. 4 a-c are sectional views of the cushion board.

FIG. 5 is a side view of a plurality of fenders and attached beams witha cushion thereon,

And FIG. 6 is a side view of a modified form of the invention having acushion on a plurality of fenders and beams.

The following is a description more in detail of the embodiments of thisinvention referring to the attached drawing including theabove-mentioned figures.

The fender 2 with the cushion board 1 riveted or glued thereto can be ofany of the conventional shapes of fenders made of an elastic material,such'as square, round, V-shaped or cylindrical. Embodiments in FIGS. 1and 2 show square fenders and that in FIG. 3 is a V- shaped fender, byway of example only.

The cushion board 1 is riveted or glued to the top surface of theimpact-bearing part 3 of the fender 2. As illustrated in FIGS. 1-3, itis desirable to provide a plurality of such cushion boards 1. Thecushion board of FIG. 4a is composed of a low foamed layer A whichconstitutes the part facing the impact-bearing surface 3 of the fenderand of a foamed or hardened layer B which constitutes the part adjoiningthe part A and which would face a ships side. Both layers A, B aresimultaneously made of the same synthetic resin.

The cushion board I thus composed has its impactbearing area B made ofhard, solid material, so it is less subject to abrasion or destructionthan if it were wholly fabricated of a foamed substance. In this case,ABS resin is desirable as the material;

As indicated in FIG. 4b, a sheet member B made of a material with a highsoftening point or a low frictional coefficient such as polycarbonate,nylon, hardened PVC or ABS re in, 0 rs s ch as acr lnitr ile, tadiene,SIyICI'l6, IS pr%vic I tI on t e impactbearing si e and inside of thismember B is bonded a layer A of low foamed ABS resin or a relativelyhard or hard foamed substance like hard or semi-hard rubber sponge. Itis desireable that the foamed substance for the layer A in this case isan independent bubble type as in the preceding embodiment. v

The cushion board 1 thus composed is directly, as shown in FIGS. 1-3,fitted to the impact-bearing part 3 of the fender, or indirectly fitted,as illustrated in FIG. 4a or FIG. 4c, with insertion of an elastic sheetC, for example of PVC, and/or an iron plate D between the impact-bearingpart of the fender and the foamed layer A of the cushion board. Thecushion board may be fixed as illustrated in FIGS. 1-3, or it may befixed by appropriate means to a plurality of beams 4 laid on a pluralityof fenders 2, as shown in FIG. 5 or in FIG. 6.

When a ship comes into contact with a fender thus constituted, its sideslips along the impact-bearing part of the fender and thereby the fenderis protected.

The hard, foamed layer covering the impact-bearing surface protects thefender, it does not break like wood and it is light weight. In thecushion board of FIG. 4b, the sheet member B has an adequate coloringagent or fluorescent agent added during its manufacture to make thefender beautiful or more prominent in darkness.

The cushion board may become worn in long service but the worn area islimited. Therefore in a fender with a plural arrangement of cushionboards, a partial rearrangement of boards or replacement with new onescan be easily carried out.

I claim:

1. A fender for mounting on a wall or side of a dock, quay, harbor orthe like for preventing ships or like vessels from harmful contact withsaid wall or side, the fender comprising a body portion and at least onecushion board mounted on said body portion to receive the initial impactof a ship or like, vessel against said fender, said cushion boardcomprising an outer layer of a material having a slidable surface and asupporting layer of a material having lightened and stiffened form.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFECE CERTIFICATE OF QORRECTION Patent No.3,680,851 Dated August 1, 1972 Inventor(s) Sad ah alia-d8.

It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent andthat said Letters Patent are hereby" corrected as shown below:

On the cover sheet after item 21 and before item 52 insert thefollowing: I

Foreign Application Priority Data July 22, 1969 Japan Sho Al -069,151

' (SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M.FLET0HER,JR. MARSHALL DANN Atte sting Officer i ioner ofPatents FORM PO-IOSO (10-69) v USCOMM-DC 60376-P69 w u.s. GOVERNMENTPRINTING OFFICE Inn o-aee-au

1. A fender for mounting on a wall or side of a dock, quay, harbor orthe like for preventing ships or like vessels from harmful contact withsaid wall or side, the fender comprising a body portion and at least onecushion board mounted on said body portion to receive the initial impactof a ship or like, vessel against said fender, said cushion boardcomprising an outer layer of a material having a slidable surface and asupporting layer of a material having lightened and stiffened form.